The Natural Georgia Series: The Flint River

Transportation in the American Frontier

By Sherri M.L. Smith

When
de Soto came to explore the interior of America, Indian trails sprawled across
the region between the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers just as they did throughout
America. Some trails connected vast stretches of country, just as interstates
of today. Other trails went to the nearest village or cut through the woods
to the best river crossing. Many of these trails, especially the ones that went
to the shallow fords across rivers and streams, were first trod by the mastodon
and other prehistoric animals on their relentless search for water and food.
The paths that connected longer distances were part of a great trading system.

Paths began to evolve into roads as more Europeans and later Americans entered
the Indian territory. By nature, the paths were narrow, allowing only single-file
traveling by the Indians or traders; but as time progressed, and permanent white
settlers began crossing the Indian lands in wagons carrying their goods, trails
had to be widened. Trees had to be cut and stumps removed. It was a laborious
process. Sometimes a road would diverge from the original path for some reason,
but for the most part, the newer, wider roads followed the existing footpaths.

Generally, Georgia's main Indian trails ran from east to west with a few connecting
to other areas north and south. Today's Augusta was the main east-west gateway
into Georgia with many major trails branching out across the state from there
because it was a good place to cross the Savannah River. From Augusta the path
led to the coastal town of Charles Town (Charleston, South Carolina), a major
colonial trading port.

Probably the best-known and most heavily traveled Indian trail in Georgia
was the Lower Creek Trading Path. From the trading center of Augusta, it ran
westward across the state, following the geographical fall line. The fall line,
which cuts directly through the Flint and Chattahoochee river valleys, crosses
every major river at its lowest good crossing point. The route was formed thousands
of years ago by herds of large animals migrating across the region and crossing
the rivers at the shallow. It was only natural that the Indians following those
animals would use the same crossing points. The trading path crossed the Flint
River where Col. Benjamin Hawkins would establish his Creek Indian Agency around
1800 and continued westward to Columbus and then onward into Alabama.

With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson recognized
the importance of the most direct route possible between Washington and New
Orleans. In 1805 Congress passed an act to establish a post road from "Washington
City by Athens, Georgia, to New Orleans." Later that year, as part of the Treaty
of Washington with the Creek Indian Nation, the Federal government secured the
right of way for a wagon road through the Creek Territory, which would closely
follow the route of the Lower Creek Trading Path. As much as anything, this
agreement, signed by such Creek leaders as William McIntosh, ultimately led
to the downfall of the Creek Nation.

By 1809, faced with the threat of war with Britain, the U.S. government determined
that the Old Horse Path, as the wagon road had become known, would have to be
upgraded to a military road for the purpose of moving supply wagons, cannons,
and men on horse and foot. Despite protests from the Indians, the U.S. military
began widening the Old Horse Path for that purpose. Completed in 1812, the Federal
Road, as it was now called, was built in anticipation of conflict with the British,
but it played an important role in the Creek War of 1813-14.

Ferries

Trails that led to the Flint always found their way to the shallowest point
in order for travelers to ford the river. Initially, travelers crossed by walking
or riding horses over the rocky shoals. The first ferries built were usually
just logs tied together to form a raft-like vehicle that was often pulled by
horses. Later, most ferries were large wooden barges operated by a system of
cables and pulleys and
powered with additional encouragement from a long wooden pole in the hands of
a muscular ferryman. Horses were sometimes used.

How many ferries crossed the Flint is hard to determine, but there were plenty.
In Macon County alone there were at least four ferries, at one time or another,
crossing the Flint. The real heyday of ferries was in the nineteenth century,
although some continued to operate well into the twentieth century. In 1920,
the Georgia Highway Department took over the state road system and the ferries
on those roads were purchased from private individuals who had been operating
them. Toll charges were abolished at state-owned ferries. One by one though,
bridges replaced the ferries.

The last ferry crossing in Georgia was on the Flint near Marshallville. At
first, a wooden barge was used at the ferry, which was known over the years
by various names, including the Miona Ferry, the Marshallville Ferry, Underwood's
Ferry, and the Flint River Ferry. Later the craft in use was a 55-foot metal
barge with a plank floor, powered by a six-cylinder 1954 Chevrolet engine rigged
up to cables. The crossing was safe, smooth, and only took a couple of minutes.
Unless the river was extremely high or there were problems with snags and floating
logs, 24-hour service was available until 1988 when the ferry discontinued service.

Steamboats

Transportation improvements throughout Georgia were almost always aimed at
aiding agriculture. By 1820 steam navigation on Georgia's rivers was just beginning.
The first steamboat to travel the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River System
appeared in 1828. Steamboats regularly traveled the Chattahoochee as far as
Columbus, the head of navigation on that river, and served more than a 100-mile
stretch of the lower Flint. By 1860 more than 26 steamboat landings dotted the
Flint between its junction with Chattahoochee and Bainbridge-all those landings
loaded with cotton waiting for a trip down the river to the port of Apalachicola
and northern markets. Navigation above Bainbridge was more difficult, but smaller
boats and barges traveled the water from Bainbridge to Albany. In fact, Nelson
Tift founded Albany as a purely financial venture to ship cotton to market on
the Flint. Steamboats continued to thrive in the 1850s despite the competition
of railroads, and remained in operation until about 1928.

Railroads

The future of the land between the Flint and Chattahoochee, as well as that
of the rest of the state, lay not with steamboats but with railroads. Georgians
throughout the "Land Between the Rivers" were eager to lay the twin ribbons
of iron that would bind together the state and the markets for their agricultural
products. Like the steamboats preceding them, railroads primarily linked established
commercial areas. In 1857, the first train of cars over the Georgia and Florida
Railroad arrived in Albany, and the Upson County Railroad-built, financed, and
operated by Upson County citizens-was completed.

By the end of the Civil War, many of the rail lines in southwest Georgia were
twisted into "Sherman's bow ties," like most of the track in Georgia. But the
railroads bounced back as large amounts of money for repairs came from northern
businesses and banks desiring to get the South's industry and railroads back
on their feet. Manchester and Amercius were two of the many towns that grew
up along a repaired and extended rail system.